150: Chapter 150 A blind man walking at night, his hammer strikes a heart shape accurately.

Chen Fan's heel crushed a piece of broken pottery, the crisp sound exploding in the silent ruins.

He tightened his grip on Su Shuang's arm, clearly feeling the faint warmth on the back of her neck—like the nearly burnt-out cinders on a winter night, ready to extinguish at any moment.

"North... three li... there is a rift... leading to the old channel of the Shadow Pavilion..."

Black Crow's vibrating sound drilled up from the ground, crawling up his spine along his ankles.

Chen Fan closed his sightless eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing: "Done." The wind lifted the strands of his bangs, matted by blood, and he lowered his head to rub against Su Shuang's ice-cold nose tip, his voice so light he seemed afraid of waking something: "Shuanger, do you smell the scorch in this wind?

Once I put you into the Reverse Fire Pool, I'll use the Thunder Hammer to smash away all this burnt smell."

The moment he took his first step, a fine, dense buzzing suddenly exploded in his ears.

It was the light sound of metal friction, thinner than a spider silk, weaker than a mosquito's whine.

Chen Fan's temples throbbed twice—this was the warning from the 'Critical Hit Prediction'.

He stopped, his thumb unconsciously caressing the Fox Clan's reverse scale mark on the back of Su Shuang's neck, the bloodline imprint she hadn't even managed to retract before falling unconscious.

"Shear Blade activating · Closing in 0.8 seconds."

The instant the system prompt exploded in his mind, Chen Fan suddenly spun around.

The hammer of the thunder god swept out with a whoosh of wind, the residual lightning currents on the handle crackling, precisely striking the wrist bone three steps to his left.

"Crack—"

The Fragrance Severers' silver shears flew out, lodging in the rock wall and vibrating with a hum.

Chen Fan heard the opponent sharply inhale, and a hoarse laugh escaped his throat: "I'm blind, but my ears are sharper than eyes."

The sound of fabric rubbing came from the darkness; the Fragrance Severers clearly retreated two steps.

Chen Fan did not press the attack; his hearing was chasing Su Shuang's increasingly weak heartbeat—that sound was like an hourglass with a leak, diminishing every second.

"Chen Fan."

A crisp female voice came from the cliff above.

Chen Fan looked up; although he couldn't see, he could 'see' the figure: a plain robe had replaced the former Red Priestess Robe, the golden hairpin in her hair was exchanged for a wooden hairpin, and even the scent of incense around her had completely dissipated.

Mysterious Lady walked down the pile of rubble, holding an extinguished Starfire Lamp.

Half a drop of solidified wax still clung to the wick, resembling a dried tear: "I am no longer a priestess of the Yun Clan."

Chen Fan's knuckles tightened on Su Shuang's back: "Does your daughter's soul not hate me?" Back on the Heart-Burning Altar, it was his hammer of the thunder god that collapsed the altar, and the soul fire of Mysterious Lady's only daughter, which was the sacrifice, shattered into starlight in that explosion.

Mysterious Lady stopped two steps away from him, the Starfire Lamp casting a faint shadow in her palm: "If she knew I killed thirty-seven innocent villagers as substitutes to preserve her soul, then she would truly hate me." Her voice was as light as a sigh, "The Reverse Fire Pool is beneath the Shadow Pavilion, guarded by a Light Erosion Eye at the entrance—one that specifically devours 'eyes with obsession'."

Chen Fan touched his empty eye socket, where the burning pain from the Thunder Worms' gnawing still lingered: "A blind man has no eyes to eat."

Mysterious Lady suddenly laughed, a bitter laugh tinged with relief: "That's why you are the most suitable candidate." She thrust the Starfire Lamp into Chen Fan's arms; the lamp body still held the warmth of her palm, "The lamp oil is refined from ten years of incense offerings; it can distract the Light Erosion Eye for a moment."

Chen Fan clenched the lamp holder, and as he turned, the hem of his robe brushed against Mysterious Lady's plain robe: "Thanks."

"No need." Mysterious Lady's voice was swept away by the night wind, "See for me if the fire in the Reverse Fire Pool is truly undying."

The wind from the underground rift poured into his collar, carrying the smell of rotten leaves.

Chen Fan leaned on the rock wall, inching downward, Su Shuang's weight pressing entirely into his arm, like a piece of paper about to be swept away by the wind.

Black Crow's vibrating sound came intermittently, guiding the direction: "Left... three hand-spans wide... there's a protrusion..."

Suddenly, the buzzing of the 'Critical Hit Prediction' in his ears stopped abruptly.

Chen Fan's breathing hitched—this was the precursor to the system causing trouble.

The next second, countless pieces of information surged into his senses:

Rock layer humidity is 87%; groundwater seeps from every crack; the smell of rust in the air comes from a decaying corpse thirty steps away. That corpse's tibia was broken; it was a miner buried alive by a sinkhole ten years ago; his boot sole was stepping on half a copper coin, inscribed with 'Kai Yuan Tong Bao', still stained with uncleaned blood—belonging to a player who passed by three days ago.

"Ding—"

The critical hit system's tremor shot from his spine to the back of his neck: [Environmental Perception Critical Hit +200% | Incomplete is Omniscient — When vision is lost, the other five senses gain critical hit reinforcement.]

Chen Fan's Adam's apple bobbed, and he reached out to touch the rock wall beside him.

The moment his fingertips touched the stone grain, he 'saw': Ten years ago, a youth here held an injured companion, blood forming a thin river down the rock cracks; three days ago, a player in leather armor held a torch, cursing that this damned place had no Reverse Fire Pool at all; at this moment, in the rock fissure twenty steps ahead, a pair of compound eyes were staring intently at him.

It was a Light Erosion Eye.

Chen Fan's fingers paused in Su Shuang's hair.

He could 'see' every tentacle of that Thunder Worm, could 'hear' the clicking sound of its mouthparts rubbing, could 'smell' the putrid, viscous fluid on it—but its target was not him, it was Su Shuang in his arms.

"The Reverse Fire Pool has arrived." Black Crow's vibrating sound suddenly became clear.

Chen Fan looked up; although he couldn't see, he could 'see' the pool of faint blue flames: the flames writhed like living things, every plume tipped with a wisp of semi-transparent soul smoke.

He touched the characters on the stone tablet by the pool; they were what Mysterious Lady mentioned: "Where souls return, the fire does not die."

The Light Erosion Eye's tentacle brushed past his ankle.

Chen Fan did not dodge; instead, he took two more steps toward the edge of the pool while holding Su Shuang.

He heavily smashed the hammer of the thunder god into a rock crevice next to the stone tablet; the thunder patterns on the hammer handle lit up with the same faint blue light as the pool fire.

"I have no eyes, but my hammer has a heart."

The system prompts exploded in his mind: [Chain Critical Hit × 8 | Spiritual Body Resonance triggers Reverse Fire Pool resonance.]

Boom—

A wave of fire surged toward the sky, illuminating every crack in the underground rock.

Chen Fan was thrown back two steps by the blast wave but fiercely protected the person in his arms.

In the firelight, he 'saw' a line of blood text carved into the rock wall behind the pool, etched with fingernails, still carrying a fresh, metallic smell: "Administration Bureau, Recovery Station No. 7."

The faint blue fire waves underground were still surging, and the ringing in Chen Fan's ears had not subsided.

He suddenly 'heard' a deeper vibration coming from the depths of the Reverse Fire Pool—like the sound of some machinery operating, like the sound of countless chains being pulled open, like...

"Shuanger," he lowered his head and kissed the top of her hair, "Did you hear that?"

The wind poured in through the rift, carrying the light sound of the pool fire, the metallic smell of the blood writing on the rock wall, and the increasingly clear sound of gears turning from the depths of the earth.